Catching the attention of your audience can be tricky, especially when you're in an industry which is considered serious, dry or boring. Because let's face it, not all brands are lending themselves to content the way GoPro does.
Don't confuse being dry and boring with being authoritative
The challenge is to get the message out there while also making sure that your brand is portrayed in the right way. For many brands, this often involves taking on an authoritative role and making sure that the content is credible and trustworthy. However, writing something authoritative doesn't mean it has to be dry and boring - instead it's up to the content marketer to make sure that the stories are enjoyable to read, listen to or watch. Joe Lazauskas of Contently wrote about this in a useful article which gives tips on what to think about when creating content for 'boring' brands.
An example of a brand that manages to create authoritative content without making it boring is Vox, who is making complex subjects easy to understand (without taking away the authority). It's using a variety of content forms such as videos, lists, maps and cards, which are a great way to make complex information accessible for audiences.
Set realistic expectations
Aside from this, it's also important to remember that not all content is created equal. Some industries are more exciting than others, and it's important for a marketer to set expectations that are realistic for the brand in question. Here's a guide which looks at the average number of social shares and placements per topic and industry that Moz put together after analysing hundreds of content marketing campaigns across different topics. The analysis revealed that the topics with the highest average number of placements and social shares were 'Health and Fitness', 'Drugs and Alcohol' and 'Travel'.
The topics with the lowest number of placements and shares were 'Business and Finance' and 'Fashion', although interestingly enough the 'Business and Finance' topic seemed to engage audiences better on social media thanks to a high average share count, so all hope isn't lost if this is your industry!
So what do I need to remember?
As a marketer, it's important to remember that good content needs to be four things: interesting, engaging and relevant for the reader, and most importantly, it must reflect your brand. Your industry is static and so can't be made more interesting and exciting - but your content can, so it's a good idea to find inspiration from successful case studies belonging to brands which are considered boring, or to create content in different formats.
